Immersive viewing environments are useful in a variety of applications, including entertainment, gaming, military and civilian training, or other kinds of training. In an immersive viewing system, a user may be surrounded or substantially surrounded by a projection screen that displays a representation of an environment, and the user has the impression of being immersed in the environment. In some systems, the scene may be an immersive motion picture. Some systems are interactive, so that the user can navigate through the environment, with the scene automatically updating to reflect simulated motion through the displayed environment.
Prior immersive viewing systems have disadvantages. For example, systems may require a large number of projectors to cover the entire projection screen. In some systems, the environment representation is formed by a number of projectors, each displaying part of the scene on the viewing screen. In such systems, the user can only move in a very limited part of the enclosed area without casting shadows on the viewing screen. Prior systems are also difficult and time consuming to set up.